Individual investors to drive stock market_8 docx

FIGURE 7.2 Economic Growth before and after an Exchange Is Opened Source: Baier, Scott L., Gerald P. Dwyer, Jr. and Robert Tamura, ‘‘Does Opening a Stock Ex- change Increase Economic Growth,’’ Journal of International Money and Finance 23 (2004), 311–331. Figures are reprinted with permisson from Elsevier. exchange in the United States. The Chicago Stock Exchange represents the merging of several smaller exchanges located in St. Louis, Cleveland, Minneapolis, and New Orleans. While the exchanges continue to operate, the national exchanges like the NYSE dominate trading activity. One implication of this finding is that small countries may find it ad- vantageous to forego the apparent benefits of opening a local stock exchange. Instead, it may be better to invest those resources to create an environment that facilitates the issuance and trading of shares abroad. Generally, this can be done by reducing domestic barriers to securities trading. Governments should attempt to improve corporate governance issues that may exist be- tween the local and global markets. They also can alter accounting practices to be more universally acceptable and enforce securities rules in a manner consistent with other countries. If the natural outcome of economic and financial development is the migration of activity to the larger, more efficient markets, it may be more efficient to use the exchanges already in existence. SUMMARY Stock exchanges do not open in an economic vacuum. It simply is not the case that stock markets open and economies then expand. Stock exchanges are formed to help allocate financial capital in an efficient manner. This is done through the trading of ownership rights in firms, whether through IPOs or throughsecondarytrading. Inallcases,stockmarketsprovideverybeneficialprice signals to firms and investors of the expected success of different ventures. The longhistory of the major stock exchanges highlighted in this chapteris testament to the importance of these markets to the economic well-being of a country. The fact that new exchanges are opened even today suggests that there probably is some economic gain from having an exchange compared to not having one. Indeed, the evidence from many studies indicates that opening a stock exchange has a positive effect on a country’s growth. Even after ac- counting for other financial and societal developments, the presence of a stock market explains why some countries are economically better-off than others. Stock exchanges appear to be an indispensable component in the modern global economy. NOTES 1. This discussion is based on information from the official website of the Tokyo exchange, accessed at www.tse.or.jp. A source of additional information is Richard J. Teweles and Edward S. Bradley, The Stock Market, 5th ed. (New York: John Wiley, 1987). Stock Markets Abroad 117 2. Tokyo Exchange Fact Book, 2005. 3. This discussion is based on information from the stock exchange’s official website. It can be accessed at www.londonstockexchange.com. Additional infor- mation was obtained from Teweles and Bradley (1987). 4. This discussion is based on information from Ron Yiu-wah Ho, Roger Strange, and Jenifer Piesse, ‘‘The Structural and Institutional Features of the Hong Kong Stock Market: Implications for Asset Pricing’’ (The Management Centre Research Papers, King’s College, London, 2004). 5. This discussion is based on information taken from the official website of the Deutsche Borse Group. It can be accessed at http://deutsche-borse.com. 6. This discussion is based on information taken from the official website of the TSX Group. It can be accessed at www.tsx.com. 7. This discussion is based on material available at the official Euronext website. It can be accessed at www.euronext.com. Source: World Federation of Exchanges Annual Report and Statistics (2004). 8. Gerald P. Dwyer, Jr. and R.W. Hafer. ‘‘Are National Stock Markets Linked?’’ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Review (November/December 1988): 3–14. 9. Ross Levine and Sara Zervos, ‘‘Stock Markets, Banks and Economic Growth,’’ American Economic Review 88, no. 3 (1998): 537–58. 10. Scott L. Baier, Gerald P. Dwyer, Jr., and Robert Tamura. ‘‘Does Opening a Stock Exchange Increase Economic Growth?’’ Journal of International Money and Finance (April 2004): 311–331. 11. Stijn Claessens, Daniel A. Klingebiel, and Sergio L. Schmulker. ‘‘The Future of Stock Exchanges in Emerging Economies: Evolution and Prospects’’ (Brookings- Wharton Papers on Financial Services, 2002), 167–202. 118 The Stock Market Eight Summing It Up By getting to this point you have covered quite of bit of territory. Believe it or not, the foregoing chapters only touched the surface of all there is to know about the stock market. Still, you should now be armed with enough informa- tion to understand what a stock price is and why it changes, what the different stock price indexes are, and on which exchanges, both domestic and foreign, they trade. Now, if one only had a copy of tomorrow’s financial pages! An important aspect of the stock market is that it is dynamic. The treat- ment of the market’s development in Chapter Two reveals the hum of con- stant change. Not only is the stock market a business—the different exchanges compete for business just like shoe companies compete for your dollar—but it is a business on which the fortunes of many individuals and corporations depend. The stock market promotes an efficient allocation of financial capital. Firms that are profitable and well managed see their stock prices rise while those firms losing money usually see their stock prices fall. These movements in stock prices reflect investors’ preferences for how the two companies are managed or maybe what business they are in. So-called tech stocks did well in the 1990s because investors viewed them as the industry of the future. While this may be true, investor zeal in discovering the next Microsoft may have led some investors to lose site of the fundamentals upon which stock prices typ- ically are based. Still, we have seen the stock market rally and fall back many times in its history. The good news is that its advances have always exceeded its declines. Today the stock market, measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Index (DJIA), is many times higher than it was just a decade ago. This translates into greater wealth for stockholders, of which most citizens can be counted. Indeed, more than ever before, more citizens have some stock ownership. While most of us may not directly own stock in any one firm, many have indirect ownership through mutual funds. Whether through our employer’s retirement plan or through self-directed 401K plans, the financial well- being of an increasing number of U.S. households is related to events in the stock market. Perhaps that explains why a cable channel is dedicated to covering the stock market. The ability of the market to allocate funds to their best use is one reason why most countries, big and small, advanced and emerging, have a stock exchange. The most cogent argument for this fact is the finding of scholarly studies that having a stock market usually is associated with improved eco- nomic growth. Even though it is difficult to disentangle the directional aspects of this relation—does having a stock market lead to better economic growth or does better growth give rise to the desire to trade stocks?—the evidence suggests that not having a stock market may slow economic advancement. This is not lost on many governments of countries that traditionally have not had market-oriented economies. For instance, the newly emerging economies of Eastern Europe and China all have opened stock exchanges. Although they pale in comparison to the activity of the U.S. market, they have not been ac- tive for two centuries either. This allocative role of the stock market also shows up by the ever- increasing variety of financial instruments traded. Today, the market is linked to a much wider variety of instruments traded. For example, historically, the futures market dealt largely in agricultural goods, like corn and cattle, and raw materials such as copper and gold. That has changed. The futures market and the stock market are linked by contracts based on market indexes or even stocks in individual firms. This link increases the depth of the market and allows investors to spread risk. While some argued that this link was a major factor leading to the 1987 stock market crash, that notion has been dispelled by the performance since then. The stock market is a major factor in any country’s financial and economic health. This is why governments wish to prevent major catastrophes from occurring, like the crashes that we have covered. Following each major epi- sode in the stock market, there arose some new set of government regulations. And while these regulations are meant to curtail some untoward behavior— from insider trading to outright manipulation and fraud—the stakes are so great that some see the potential gains as outweighing the possible costs. Gov- ernment oversight and watchdog agencies, like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States, exist to make financial markets and the transactions within as transparent as possible. Reducing the asymmetric information problem that arises between buyers and sellers—between inves- tors and corporations, for example—is a key role for regulation. 120 The Stock Market What lies in store for the stock market of tomorrow? The current trend is toward increased electronic trading. Exchanges like the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ) already perform without the face-to-face contact that has characterized other exchanges, most notably the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The day of the floor trader and the market specialist roaming the exchange’s floor are numbered. It will not be long before the reporter covering the market will be seen in front of an electronic board of stock prices instead of being jostled by traders and runners closing deals. There also is likely to be a further consolidation of exchanges, especially across national boundaries. This already has occurred in foreign markets. The Euronext exchange combines those of Brussels, Paris, and Amsterdam, among others. This type of consolidation raises the return to investors in the exchange and increases the depth of the market. Another example of such business- based activity occurred in early 2006. By May of 2006 the ownership of the London Stock Exchange became increasingly foreign. That is, the NASDAQ Stock Market (the company that owns the NASDAQ exchange) paid ap- proximately $210 million to purchase 13.8 million shares of the London Stock Exchange (a publicly traded corporation). This raised NASDAQ’s ownership in the London market to slightly over 24 percent. At the same time, the French insurance company AXA increased its ownership of the London Stock Exchange to slightly over 10 percent. As with any corporation, ownership of stock gives the shareholder certain rights in the management of the company. In this case, both NASDAQ and AXA will be able to exert some influence on how the London Exchange is managed. Will such foreign ownership of a U.S. exchange occur? Before 2006, it would not have been possible for someone to own the NYSE. This is because the NYSE was owned by its members. However, the NYSE is now a publicly traded firm, just like General Electric or Boeing. This means that any- one owning a large enough block of the outstanding stock can have sub- stantial influence over the operations of the exchange. Just as it happened with the London Stock Exchange, it is now possible that a foreign entity could purchase enough NYSE stock to own the exchange. Summing It Up 121 Appendix: Companies Listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Average MAY 26, 1896 Beginning with this date, the Average was comprised solely of industrial stocks. Prior to this date, some of the stocks included railroads. The first published Average from the list of stocks was 40.94. Following its initial publication, the Average declined, reaching its lowest point in the history of the Average, 28.28 on August 8, 1896. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Chicago & North Western Delaware & Hudson Canal Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Lake Shore Railroad Louisville & Nashville Missouri Pacific New York Central Northern Pacific pfd. Pacific Mail Steamship Union Pacific Western Union AUGUST 31, 1925 American Can American Car & Foundry American Locomotive American Smelting American Sugar American Telephone & Telegraph American Tobacco General Electric Company General Motors Corporation International Harvester Kennecott Mack Trucks Sears Roebuck & Company Texas Company U.S. Realty U.S. Rubber U.S. Steel Western Union Westinghouse Woolworth OCTOBER 1, 1928 On this date, the present version of the Dow Jones Industrial Average emerged. The list of stocks included in the Average was increased from twenty to thirty and several firms were substituted for others. Changes in the Average, in terms of the companies listed, would occur throughout its history. APRIL 21, 1976 This data is chosen to illustrate some of the changes that took place in the history of the Average. For example, companies listed in the Average today may not have appeared in the Average historically due to name changes. Some examples include the Nov 1, 1972 change from Standard Oil (N.J.) to Exxon; the May 30, 1973 change from Swift & Company to Esmark; or the April 21, 1976 change from International Nickel to Inco. Allied Chemical American Can American Smelting American Sugar American Tobacco B Atlantic Refining Bethlehem Steel Chrysler General Electric Company General Motors Corporation General Railway Signal Goodrich International Harvester International Nickel Mack Truck Nash Motors North American Paramount Publix Postum Incorporated Radio Corporation Sears Roebuck & Company Standard Oil (N.J.) Texas Company Texas Gulf Sulphur Union Carbide U.S. Steel Victor Talking Machine Westinghouse Electric Woolworth Wright Aeronautical Allied Chemical Aluminum Company of America American Can American Tel. & Tel. American Tobacco B Anaconda Copper Bethlehem Steel Chrysler DuPont Eastman Kodak Company Esmark Exxon Corporation General Electric Company General Foods General Motors Corporation Goodyear Inco International Harvester 124 Appendix MAY 6, 1991 The companies included in the Average changes over time. On this date, the firms of Navistar International Corp., USX Corporation, and Primerica Corporation were replaced by Caterpillar Incorporated, Walt Disney Company, and J. P. Morgan & Company. NOVEMBER 21, 2005 International Paper Company Johns-Manville Owens-Illinois Glass Procter & Gamble Company Sears Roebuck & Company Standard Oil of California Texaco Incorporated Union Carbide United Technologies Corporation U.S. Steel Westinghouse Electric Woolworth Allied-Signal Incorporated Aluminum Company of America American Express Company American Tel. & Tel. Bethlehem Steel Boeing Company Caterpillar Incorporated Chevron Coca-Cola Company DuPont Eastman Kodak Company Exxon Corporation General Electric Company General Motors Corporation Goodyear International Business Machines International Paper Company J. P. Morgan & Company McDonald’s Corporation Merck & Company, Inc. Minnesota Mining & Mfg. Philip Morris Companies Inc. Procter & Gamble Company Sears Roebuck & Company Texaco Incorporated Union Carbide United Technologies Corporation Walt Disney Company Westinghouse Electric Woolworth 3M Company Alcoa Incorporated Altria Group Incorporated American Express Company American International Group AT&T Incorporated Boeing Corporation Caterpillar Incorporated Citigroup Incorporated Coca-Cola Company DuPont Exxon Mobil Corporation General Electric Company General Motors Corporation Hewlett-Packard Company Home Depot Incorporated Honeywell International Inc. Intel Corporation International Business Machines Johnson & Johnson Appendix 125 [...]... particular stock Stock (equity) fund A mutual fund that primarily invests in stocks Stock exchange Physical location where traders (buyers and sellers) meet face -to- face to trade stocks Stockholder A partial owner of the firm with limited liability, also someone who generally has right to vote in the election of the board of directors 132 Glossary Stock index A single measure of a basket of stock prices,... owning too few stocks, in which case one does not have gains in certain securities to offset losses in others Dividends Payments from the corporation to the stock ownership These can be in the form of cash or additional stock Dynamic hedging/portfolio insurance The buying or selling of stocks or futures contacts to offset risk of price change to future price of stock Earnings Generally a reference to the... obligated to make delivery In the case of an individual stock, this is a party that sells a stock after borrowing it from another party, hoping the price will fall and they will be able to buy it back at a lower price Single -stock futures contract A futures contract that calls for delivery of an individual stock instead of a basket of stocks that comprise some index Small cap firms Corporations whose total... together physically Pension plans Plans that allow employees to save for retirement, many times employers match employee savings up to a limit Preferred stock Stock that is obligated to pay dividends Private stock/ private placement Stock in companies that are not publicly listed, generally having fewer than 500 shareholders Publicly traded stock Stocks that are registered with the SEC Put option An option... allow U.S investors a simple means of investing in foreign stocks without going through the process of converting U.S dollars into a foreign currency to buy the stock At-the-money call option An option contract that has an exercise price that is identical to the current market price for the underlying instrument Balanced fund A mutual fund that invests in both stocks and bonds Bank run When depositors begin... compared with traditional stock index futures contracts Mutual fund A financial intermediary that accepts money from investors and then turns around and buys a variety of securities The intermediary decides on the investments made No-load fund A mutual fund that does not charge an investor a fee upfront to invest Notional value The total amount of stock that is deliverable in a stock derivative instrument... investor taking a derivative position Margin investing Buying stocks with borrowed money Market capitalization Measured by taking the number of shares that a firm has outstanding and multiplying it by the share price Market crash A situation in which the decline in stock prices is extreme, such as seen in October 1929 or October 1987 Mini stock index futures contracts Smaller notional value than stock. .. basket of thirty stocks that underlie the DJIA Stock index futures contracts A futures contract that calls for delivery of an index (basket) of stocks Stock return The sum of all gains from investment divided by the amount originally invested Systemic risk A risk that is systemwide and cannot be reduced by investing in a diversified basket of securities Technical market analysis To predict a stock s future... as investors do not pay taxes on gains until retirement Fundamental market analysis Using data on a firm’s profits and profit potential to assess the value of a given investment Futures contracts Financial contracts that require the buyer to take delivery of the underlying commodity at a future date, while obligating the seller to make delivery The price for future delivery is set today Growth stock Stock... buying and selling shares of stock by bringing two parties together to transact Bull markets Stock returns on most stocks are yielding a higher return than their historical averages Call options An option contract that allows the buyer of the option the right to buy something at a preagreed upon price and obligates the seller of the option to sell at this price C Corporation A corporation that pays . futures market and the stock market are linked by contracts based on market indexes or even stocks in individual firms. This link increases the depth of the market and allows investors to spread. households is related to events in the stock market. Perhaps that explains why a cable channel is dedicated to covering the stock market. The ability of the market to allocate funds to their best use. employees to save for retirement, many times employers match employee savings up to a limit. Preferred stock. Stock that is obligated to pay dividends. Private stock/ private placement. Stock in